CrackBerry Live: Bruce Haendel stops by to discuss the Tazzle IT printing solution for BlackBerry

While a lot of focus at BlackBerry Live was placed on BlackBerry 10 apps, there's still plenty of BlackBerry OS developers out there. One long standing app in the community is Tazzle IT. Bruce Haendel, CEO Tazzle It, stopped by the CrackBerry Live stage to give us a run through of what his app does, how it can be used and where people can get it. Tazzle IT offers its customers a software and hardware solution. The Tazzle IT USB key provides the quickest, easiest way for you to view, print and send email content, photos and files directly from your BlackBerry to any Windows PC.

Can you tie into Google Print? That is tied in through Chrome and there is a desktop client from Paperless Printer. That would allow you to work with nearly any printer without having to mess with direct printing.

This is NOT a printing solution. According to the product web site, it is a wifi dongle to allow the transfer of files from the phone to a PC -- but only after first installing their proprietary software on that PC. How is this any better -- or even as good as -- connecting your phone to the desired PC via USB cable and transferring files that way? Seems to me that the traditional cable method is quicker and easier, with less impact on the PC involved, which may well belong to a client.

Actually, Cletis, it is not a WiFi dongle. It is a small, patented USB device that uses Bluetooth. The patented hardware actually acts as a hardware firewall using push technology. Therefore, the data on both ends (data in the PC and data on the Blackberry) are secure and protected. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've either forgotten or can't find or can't use the USB cable. When I want to transfer a file or picture, I want to do it right now. The software is easy to download, takes up virtually no room on the PC and does nothing unless a TazzleIT is plugged into the PC and a linked Blackberry device connects. When the transfer is done, I can edit the document or photo and print as many copies as I need. When I close the native program that opened the file or photo for me on the PC, the file is gone for good from the PC. If I want to save it to the PC I can choose to do that and choose the location instead of it being buried willy-nilly somewhere in the bowels of the PC. Where I travel in the world, places that have easy to access broadband Wi-Fi are the exception rather than the rule. Most don't. TazzleIT gives me a way to view or print without bothering with cables. It IS a very good printing solution for BB and it's the only one I have found that works everywhere.

Thanks for the correction: It's a [i]bluetooth[/i] dongle that allows the transfer of files from phone to PC without a cable, but which requires the installation of proprietary software on the target PC. I get that the PC client app is essentially a server/listener which provides the push capability, removing the need to open Windows Explorer and drag a file from one volume to another -- and which automatically deletes the copied file(s) from its working directory when it exits. That's neat, but it doesn't change the fact that you're trading the use of a cable with the requirement to install software on the PC -- and I'm just trying to point out that in many business environments, that would be a deal-killer. (And, again, not necessarily easier or faster than just using a cable.)

I have to add that I can't remember the last time someone didn't have a micro-usb cable handy when I needed one -- which would have only been in non-business situations, since I always carry several in my bag. (The same bag I would use to carry such a dongle and software as TazzleIT; which means that the only time I would be able to use TazzleIT is when I didn't need it.)

I'm sure that there are those who may find this worthwhile and/or fun to use, but I'm thinking that it's more of a neat, unnecessary gadget than a tool which solves a real problem. I know that I'd get a gadget buzz from using it myself if I had one.

Actually, there is more to it than that. This solution allows for better security than cable, especially if you are allowing your PC to be used by others, or if you are asking to use another person's PC to print. But, wait! That is not all... it slices and dices... as mentioned in the beginning. The Tazzle IT can be used to control PPT presentations as well. So with one product, not only can you use your BB as a control device for presentations, but you can also do direct print. You don't need an extra WiFi Printer, you don't need a presentation controller, and while you can use your phone as a storage device, you won't need to expose what you have on your phone to the PC user, and the PC user would not need to expose what s/he has on their computer to you, the BlackBerry User. On top of that, if you misplace or leave behind the Tazzle IT, unlike memory sticks, you don't leave behind any files on the device. Oh, and unlike cable, you can move around within range to save files or print them instantly, rather than needing to stand around the computer if the Tazzle is plugged in already. So, in short, yes, it is a great printing solution, but it's much more than that.

I can see how the ppt remote functionality would help add value to this device for those who do the traveling presentation thing. Many businesses have a PC in their presentation room which they expect and allow corporate outsiders to access; it'll be off the corporate network, and used only for presentations. Still, this merely means that you're going through the process of installing software on that PC in order to avoid plugging in a cable -- which on a presentation trip, you most certainly did not forget -- and copying the file over, then using the ppt remote you already own if you're doing this often enough to want the TazzleIT device, and then remembering to delete the file when you finish. I think that last point -- remembering to delete the files you copied from the customer's PC before you leave -- is the sole point of value here. And that alone may well make it worth it for some.

I have used the Tazzle IT myself for over a year and find it very useful. Just like bluetooth devices, if you are in range of it, you can print. Yes you install software onto that PC and need the dongle plugged in to the PC but that is it. On the BlackBerry menu I can select print and it prints, just that simple. I work in a high rise building and not always in my office so I have it installed on a few PC's through out the building on different floors. I get an email that I want to print, I simply plug in my Tazzle and print. The speed it prints is probably the nicest thing.

I do on occasion use the view function but not nearly as much as the print function. Cool thing about the view options is when I close the document or whatever it is and pull out the Tazzle it leaves no trace on the PC. (Comes in handy, for people to see a quote or bid, but don't really want them to have it yet.)

This product is hard to describe so the above scenario may help out. This product is not really for an end user, who prints once in a great while, but more for people that are on the move. Especially if you need a print solution when out in an area that does not have internet at all, but you have access to a printer and laptop. Simply open your email via your BlackBerry and print the email, attachment or image.

Now that I am using the 10 OS I really do hope Tazzle IT gets upgraded for the new devices.

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